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Microsoft announced Monday that it has released to manufacturing the long-awaited update to its Dynamics-branded customer relationship management software (CRM).
Previously codenamed “Titan,” the latest version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM actually has two names in its final form. For on-premise, customer-hosted, as well as partner-hosted deployments, the product has been dubbed Dynamics CRM 4.0. The company will also be offering the package on-demand in a Microsoft-hosted environment that it has named Dynamics CRM Live.
Existing and new customers will be able to download the update when it’s released on the Web this week, a Microsoft official told InternetNews.com. The Microsoft-hosted version, however, continues to run under the early access program that the company began in September.
Microsoft plans to take that version live during the first half of 2008, said Brad Wilson, general manager of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. “[In the meantime,] more than 100 customers are using [CRM Live] at this point,” Wilson added.
The release of Dynamics CRM 4.0 comes two years after version 3.0 shipped. CEO Steve Ballmer demonstrated CRM Live – a.k.a. CRM 4.0 — during his keynote at the company’s Convergence 2007 conference in March.
Probably the most notable feature in CRM 4.0 is its so-called “multitenant” architecture, which enables a hosting partner, for instance, to run only one copy of the server but support multiple customers simultaneously and securely. CRM 4.0 also features support for 25 different languages and multiple currencies, although not all will be available immediately, according to a company statement.
Among other additions, the package adds business process automation based on Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation. It also provides new collaboration capabilities with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, such as real-time presence indicators within the CRM application, the statement said.
With the move to two different names for the same code base, the company is aiming to differentiate its Microsoft-hosted Live version from the partner hosted version partly by pointing customers who need custom application work and support to those partners.
At the same time, however, CRM Live is another step in Microsoft’s emerging “software plus services” initiative – meaning that the company has to be careful not to step too much on partners who both sell the package to on-premise customers as well as host it for customers.


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Watch the campaign conceptualised by Lowe Lintas here
The Emami Group has a new set of brand ambassadors. The personal and healthcare consumer products major has appointed Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Preity Zinta as its new brand ambassadors. Dhoni and Zinta, arch rivals on the Indian Premier League will be the new faces of Emami’s edible oil brand. Both will appear in a soon to be launched TVC directed by Prahlad Kakkar.The TVC aims to re-enact their fighting spirit on the cricket field and ends in a happy denoucement with both Dhoni and Zinta turning friends. (More details on the TVC to follow.)
Dishtv has come up with a new TV commercial to support its multimedia campaign for its new brand positioning 'Ghar Aayi Zindagi'.The DTH operator from the Essel Group says that the new campaign positions Dishtv as "a force that unites families together, a catalyst that brings happiness into homes."The TVC has been executed by Dishtv's creative agency McCann Worldgroup TAG.
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Bitcoin Breaches 9K, Reserve Bank of India Regulation Issues and Amazon Launches Blockchain Templates
Another positive 24 hours sees Bitcoin finally break through the $9k mark to $9,264 whilst Ethereum continues its upward trajectory to $682. The top 100 altcoins all in the green with Verge being the only exception. With the global crypto market cap now above $400 billion after sustained consecutive daily gains, the bears appear to have had their day for the time being at least.
The Reserve Bank of India comes under pressure over its regulatory ruling as the Dehli High Court issues a notice against the institution challenging the ban on financial entities conducting business with cryptocurrency exchanges. The high court petition was filed by Kali Digital Eco-Systems who planned to launch their own exchange later this year, claiming the RBI ban conflicts with India’s constitution and a lack of guidance regarding goods and service taxation where crypto is concerned. The RBI has been criticized for “being heavy-handed” with its approach to the sector – this case highlights the rather odd situation where they have essentially regulated themselves into a corner with little option but to rethink the moves.
The Marshall Islands is the latest country to announce its intent to enter the cryptocurrency space with a novel twist - government influence. The Marshall Islands has no central bank authority making financial regulatory control a governmental responsibility. As a result the “Declaration and Issuance of the Sovereign Currency Act” was passed, essentially paving the way for the intended “Sovereign” (SOV) currency to be created and serve as legal tender for citizens and local businesses.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) have launched blockchain templates for developers with 2 flavours to choose from – Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric – enabling the ability to create and deploy secure blockchain networks utilising open source frameworks. The launch brings Amazon in line with competitors IBM and Oracle also offering similar services. With Amazon finally joining the blockchain party as it were, the adoption and integration of blockchain in general looks set to continue with hints of more blockchain products and services centered around the financial sector on the cards.
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Created: Tuesday, April 24, 2018
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While 3D printing is responsible for changing so much of the world, throwing out tradition in favor of stronger, better, and more affordable products and processes–things have changed in other areas while we were busy with our heads down, rolling out innovations in PLA and ABS. For instance, the new Pope just seems to be getting hipper by the minute–from the Harley Davidson to ditching Congress for the homeless–and perhaps getting the common man’s attention–as well as taking us back to some common sense ideals.
Surely he’s cool with the hippest new technologies as well. And we’ll see if the latest from a German 3D printing specialist happens to catch his eye. Now, a replica of Papa Francesco I – Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first pope in history to be available as a 3D printed figurine for everyone who is interested in celebrating him in a high-tech manner.
“Great news for the supporters and followers of the Catholic Church. Papa Francesco I – Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the first pope in history which is available as 3D printed figurine for everyone. The head of the Roman Catholic Church is well known for his support against environmental pollution, poverty and his great relationship with other religions,” Josh Weinberger of Forge 3D Printing told 3DPrint.com. “Staramba and the Forge 3D Printing Studio are proud to bring you the likeness of Pope Francis, just in time for his arrival in America. In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI was replaced by Pope Francis as Pope. A native of Argentina clergyman is the first pope who comes from America and the first pope to be available for everyone as a 3D figure.”
Brought to the world by Staramba Arts and Entertainment, the likeness of Pope Francis, the 266th head of the Roman Catholic Church, has arrived in 3D print just in time for his visit to the US, and is quite a good likeness, we think. Staramba did the scanning and design work in Germany, and the figures will be shipped out by Staramba USA.
Replacing Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, Pope Francis is surely one of the most charismatic popes in history. The piece is now available at Staramba’s online shop, with the scanning and printing produced at their Berlin headquarters.
“Get the heavenly man including a base-plate showing the ceiling painting of the Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in three different sizes in our online shop,” invites the team.
You can actually find quite a collection of the Pope 3D prints by Staramba, with pieces retailing from $69.95 to $249.95, depending on size. Staramba offers the following models with various locales and features:
- New York City
- St. Peter’s Basilica
- Washington, DC
The 3D printed figurine is a photo-realistic replica made in full color and then hand finished. Most of the pieces are at a scale of 1:15, in full color sandstone, but there are two other sizes available at different prices as well.
The 3D printed Pope also comes with a base plate which shows the ceiling painting of the Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and measures 1.46 x 3.15 inches. If you order one of these 3D prints, you can look forward to it arriving in a very nice gift box too, complete with a Certificate of Authenticity and Care and Safety Instructions.
Saramba has headquarters in Berlin, and specializes in photo-realistic 3D printed figurines, as well as selfies and other related 3D printed novelty items.
“There is an infinite amount worthy to be noted: the wedding, an anniversary, the school enrollment, the festive ball, an appearance in a unique costume …With Staramba it is a reminder to touch,” says the team on their website.
While Pope Francis is one of the more surprising novelty items we’ve seen in 3D print, the technology does offer great appeal and opportunity for businesses like Staramba, as well as those involved in marketing and branding endeavors. We’re curious to see what clever 3D prints Staramba comes out with next. Will you be ordering your 3D printed Pope Francis?
Will you be purchasing this product? Let us know in the 3D Printed Pope Forum thread on 3DPB.com.
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Media Contact: Brenda Kissko
Housekeeper Appreciation and Press Conference on May 10
[Midland, Texas] – The Midland Convention & Visitors Bureau will lead a “Housekeeper Appreciation” celebration and press conference at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 10, at Sleep Inn & Suites, 5612 Deauville Boulevard. The celebration and press conference is part of the 29th annual National Travel and Tourism Week.
“Travel and tourism creates 3,190 jobs and generates over $322 million in total direct travel spending here in Midland,” said Gaylia Olivas, Vice President of the Midland Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This week we are celebrating the impact of travel in our community, and we’re letting our elected officials and local citizens know how important travel is to Midland. On Thursday we will be showing our appreciation for the housekeepers in each of Midland’s hotel and motel properties. They are a vital part of travelers’ impression of our fine city.”
Travel is a broad and diverse industry employing a vast workforce, from airline and hotel employees to restaurant, attraction and retail workers. Travel and tourism further supports employees in other industry sectors, such as construction, manufacturing and finance.
“Travel is a force that can drive our nation’s economic recovery. It is one of the healthiest sectors of our economy in terms of job creation and hiring, employing one out of every nine Americans,” said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, the umbrella organization representing the U.S. travel industry. “During this election season, we are galvanizing support to ‘Vote Travel’ to showcase the power of our industry and its impact on our economy.”
Travel and tourism generated $1.9 trillion in economic output for the U.S. economy in 2011. The industry also represents one of America’s largest employers, supporting 14.4 million jobs (including 7.5 million directly in the travel industry and 6.9 million in other industries). Direct spending by domestic and international travelers averaged $2.2 billion a day, $92.8 million an hour, $1.5 million a minute and $25,700 a second.
“I’ve worked in the travel industry for years, and I depend on visitors for my living,” said Marlene Martinez, Executive Housekeeper at Sleep Inn and Suites in Midland, who has been with the property since they opened their doors four years ago. “When people make the choice to travel to Midland, Texas, it makes an enormous impact on the residents who live and work here.”
Martinez says she loves her job and their housekeeping staff of eight is one big family that works hard to keep to keep their customers happy. Sleep Inn & Suites is near the Scharbauer Sports Complex and hosts Midland RockHounds teams, other sport events as well as local oil businesses.
MIDLAND TOURISM FACTS
Tourism is the second largest industry in the state of Texas.
According to the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and Tourism department, tourism created $322 million in direct spending for Midland, Texas.
Of that $322 million spent in Midland:
Over $44 million is spent being spent on accommodations
Over $54 million spent on food service
Over $71 in local transportation and gas
Over $24 million on arts, recreation and entertainment
Over $70 million in retail sales
And over $18 million in air transportation
Travel provides 3,190 jobs in Midland and generates $4.2 million in tax revenue right here in our city.
SOURCE: Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism, www.travel.state.tx.us
Did You Know
If you took that $322 million in direct spending in Midland and placed those 322 million one dollar bills end‐to‐end, they would circle the entire world – and you’d still have 65 million dollar bills left over.
Did You Know
If those 3,190 people employed through tourism here in Midland lined up with their arms spread, fingers touching they would stretch more than 3 miles long
Did You Know
This past year, the Midland CVB bid on 21 new events totaling 6,787 room nights generating $2,394,995 in Direct Visitor Spending. We completed 138 events totaling 30,011 room nights generating $22,750,090 in Direct Visitor Spending.
The mission of the Midland Convention & Visitors Bureau is to encourage economic growth by developing, promoting, enhancing and supporting Midland as a vibrant visitor destination.


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VapeCon was held in Pretoria at the Heartfelt arena, from 25 August 2018 until 26 August 2018.
Vapour Product Association (VPA) of South Africa, CEO, Zodwa Velleman said the exhibition was for all vapours to get together and get their message out on smoke-free SA out. “We have three main objectives, one is to ensure that we have appropriate industry regulation, the adequate provision of up-to-date information for informed consumer choices and consistent compliance that is clearly defined “she said.
Those attending will be able to trial the latest flavours, experience the new devices and learn more about the commitment of producers to supply their customers with world-class products.”
The popularity of the VapeCon event and sales of tickets indicates that vaping, far from being a temporary fashion statement, is entrenching itself as the preferred safer alternative to combustible tobacco, says Velleman. Science has proved that e- Cigarette is
95% less harmful and can provide a perfect solution for people who want to switch and/or quit smoking.
Reports from VPA members indicate that every month, thousands of adult smoking South Africans are replacing tobacco cigarettes with e-cigarette. By doing so, they are making a conscious choice to reduce the health risks associated with smoking cigarette.
Nicotine, the ingredient common to most flavoured vapours, is regarded by health authorities globally as the most benign substance found in cigarettes. Responsible vapour producers help make the process even healthier by using only pharmaceutical grade nicotine and certifying the strength of the nicotine in their products.
We believe that the VapeCon will not only be enjoyed by vapers but will also attract people who are tobacco smokers and who are looking to switch and/or quit smoking. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the product, we encourage combustible cigarette smokers and e-cigarette smokers to attend”


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Despite moving to New York last year, Jade Sarita Arnott’s label Arnsdorf retains a strong Melbourne base. Her spring/summer 2011 collection, The Circle, which debuted at Rosemount Australian Fashion Week saw her display a newfound maturity. This somewhat subdued collection – which will be available at the sale – was inspired by female artists and their crafts, such as embroidery, patchwork and weaving.
The sale runs for one day only (five hours in fact) so you really need to get in quick. Up for grabs are one-off sample pieces from all her past collections.
Also available will be samples from fellow Australian labels Dress Up, Ellison and Kuwaii.
Sale will run on Saturday July 30 at The Grace Darling from noon to 5pm.


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Vodafone UK has expanded its fixed line phone and broadband offering to small businesses following a successful consumer roll-out.
Launched last June for residential customers, Vodafone’s Superfast Fibre broadband network can deliver speeds of up to 76Mbps to firms across the country.
Business users can also add call-diversion and fixed IP numbers to their packages and will benefit from a pledge to fix fault and outages “within just one working day where possible.”
Prices start at £30.99 per month including line rental.
Phil Mottram, Enterprise Director of Vodafone UK said: “The arrival of Vodafone broadband for small businesses is exciting news for the UK.
“Superfast, reliable, secure broadband is absolutely essential to keep the country’s businesses in business.
“We’ve invested heavily in our own dedicated network of enterprise quality, fibre optic broadband and can now offer a broadband and landline phone package that’s feature rich with the benefit of enhanced service levels.”


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Russia’s Mail.Ru sells its Groupon shares
- Staff Chicago Business Journal
The company last week sold its 0.84 percent stake in Chicago-based Groupon (Nasdsaq: GRPN) and 0.16 percent stake in Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA), according to Dow Jones Newswires, citing company spokeswoman Ksenia Chabanenko.
Mail.ru has been reducing its shares in several U.S. Internet companies in recent weeks. The company on Nov. 9 said it cut its stake in Groupon from 4.12 percent and in Zynga from 1.17 percent. It also cut its stake in Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) to 0.52 percent from 1.34 percent.
Mail.Ru is the leading Internet company in Russia, based on global monthly unique users. It operates Russia's leading e-mail service Mail@Mail.Ru and the two largest IM networks in Russia – Mail.Ru Agent and ICQ. It also operates two of the three largest Russian-language online social networking sites – My World@Mail.Ru and Odnoklassniki.ru – and owns a strategic minority equity stake in the social network Vkontakte. It also is Russia's largest online games company.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Managing Director Matthew Hammond said last week Mail.Ru would consider using proceeds from the sales to pay a special dividend and would like to buy a larger stake in social network Vkontakte.
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The Danish toy company has promised to get rid of gender labels on LEGO products. About time!
LEGO has recently commissioned research into attitudes to play, gender, and toys. The results include the views of 7,000 children aged 6-14 and their parents across China, Czech Republic, Japan, Poland, Russia, UK and the USA. What did they find?
‘Girls are ready to overcome gender norms but society continues to enforce biases that hamper their creative potential.‘
Sadly, while girls feel confident in stretching societal expectations, over 70% of boys worry about being teased for playing with what we’ve labelled as ‘girls toys’, compared to just over 40% of girls. The research was carried out by the Geena Davis Institute to mark the UN’s International Day of the Girl.
Lego’s future plans
The Independent has reported on how LEGO plans to help tackle this: getting rid of ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ toys. LEGO has committed to breaking down these outdated gendered ideas. The Danish company explained:
‘Ensuring more inclusive play and raising the debate around gender norms is critical, not just for girls but for any child. The LEGO Group knows that boys are also battling prejudice when it comes to creative play and playing with toys that are traditionally seen as being for the opposite sex.‘
I think this is a refreshing step forward. There are no ‘boys’ or ‘girls’ games or toys – only ones you enjoy. While many are reporting on how this will affect the physical LEGO sets (and we do enjoy those – especially the Super Mario themed ones) we’re of course more interested in how this will shake out in their videogames.
Growing up, I was a big fan of both LEGO Creators and LEGO Rockraiders – I’d be keen to see LEGO invest in more games which encourage aimless, creative play. It’s already announced more of its games based on Disney-owned IP – like the upcoming LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. But please – no more sappy LEGO Friends.
What do you think about the research LEGO has done into gender and toys? Do you think more games companies could learn from its approach? Let us know via social media.
Don’t forget you can find great games and more on the GameByte Shop! We’ve stocked our store with the latest games, merch and accessories. We might even have a new-gen console or two! Sign up to our newsletter to be notified of our console drops, deals and more. Please note the GameByte Shop is available for UK customers only.
Featured Image Credit: LEGO/Disney


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GST rate structure finalised, 4 slabs ranging from 5 to 28%
- GST rates fixed at 5% lowest.
- Four-tier GST structure decided by GST council.
- Zero-tax rate to apply to 50% of items including foodgrains used by common man.
Finance Minister, Arun Jailey, announced that a four-tier GST rate structure of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% has been decided by the all-powerful GST council. "We have been able to finalise GST rate structure," says Arun Jaitley.
The FM also disclosed that zero-tax rate to apply to 50% of items in CPI basket that includes foodgrains used by common man. Also, 5% duty will be levied on items of mass consumption and that two standard rated of 12% and 15% will be there in GST.
A welcome relief for the consumers as items taxed at 30% to 31% (excise plus VAT) will be taxed at 28% declared the Finance Minister.
Additional revenue from highest tax slab to be used to keep essential use items at 5% and transferring common use items to 18%, added Jaitley.
Some relief for the states as luxury cars, tobacco, aerated drinks to be levied with a cess which along with clean energy cess would be used to compensate the states for loss of revenue. This compensation pool created through cess would be for five years. Jaitley stated that ₹50,000 crore is required to be paid to states for loss of revenue in the first year of GST rollout.


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Honey harvest has started for Anzer honey produced in Anzer Plateau, located at an altitude of 2300-3000 metres, in İkizdere district of Rize province.
In order to produce Anzer honey, whose price competes with gold, approximately 3,500 hives are placed across the plateau according to the rate of insolation every year in May.
While weather conditions are determinant in annual honey production, the Caucasian bee race is preferred due to its production quality and suitability to weather conditions.
In Anzer Plateau, where nearly 200 beekeepers placed 3 thousand hives this year, beekeepers, who brought together 40 endemic flowers with a rich plateau flora, started harvesting the worldwide known Anzer honey during the summer.
Honey collected from beekeepers united under the umbrella of Anzer Ballıköy Agricultural Development Cooperative is registered and sealed at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, after pollen analysis is conducted.
Anzer Ballıköy Agricultural Development Cooperative President Osman Civelek told reporters that harvesting will end in 3-5 days in “Anzer honey”.
Civelek also pointed out that productivity in honey harvest is low due to the prevalence of animal husbandry in the region in recent years and said, “We have done a study to remove animals from bee fields. We have achieved this to a certain extent. This work must be continued for the future of beekeeping in Anzer.”
Stating that they produced around one and a half tons of honey last year, Civelek continued his words as follows: “I expect this year to be more efficient than last year. We will have around 2 tons of honey. This is enough for our orders. We will try to send the remaining honey to our new customers. There are also customers from abroad as well as in Turkey. By the way as Arab tourists explore the Black Sea region, the number of our Arab customers has increased considerably in recent years.”


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Over the past decade, millions of manufacturing jobs have disappeared from U.S. cities, while employment in warehousing and transportation has surged.
Internet retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Zulily are competing to deliver goods to the buyer’s doorstep as quickly as possible. The result has been a constellation of vast warehouses employing workers without college degrees. And it’s breathed new life into pockets of the country that had fallen economically behind.
In recent years, steel mills in Texas and Pennsylvania, shipyards in Louisiana and former military sites in Joliet, Ill., and Oakland, Calif., have all been reinvented as logistics hubs. In fact, redevelopment firms are finding that such endeavors are often more appealing to the local populations than breaking ground on new developments.
Resistance to Development
Take, for instance, the situation in Lehigh Valley, Penn., where developers are encountering significant residential backlash as warehouses gobble up real estate. Residents of several once-rural communities are not all thrilled about the area’s urbanization.
According to Becky Bradley, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, Lehigh residents have suffered “severe culture shock.” Big companies have rapidly moved in and started building over the past 10 years.
“Where there was once a wheat or corn field is now a warehouse, and people aren’t happy about that, so politically it’s a very sensitive issue,” Bradley said. “It was residential for 50-60 years, and now it’s different.”
About 62 municipalities span the two counties that make up Lehigh Valley (Lehigh and Northampton counties), and not all of them are in agreement about how much warehouse building should continue in the area.
Reinventing Old Factory Sites
In fact, since 2010, warehouses have been adding workers at four times the rate of overall job growth. According to Michael Mandel, chief economic strategist at the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington, this growth illustrates “a rather large transformation, and the humble warehouse is the leading edge of this.”
Goetz Wolff, a UCLA professor of urban planning, agrees. “The distribution system and warehouses offer employment, and so logistics is viewed as a kind of savior,” he said.
According to Mandel, “These fulfillment center jobs are not being created in the tech hubs that were growing before. We’ve broadened the winner’s circle.”
The New Winners
So who are “the winners”? They’re people like Ellen Gaugler of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She remembers driving her father to the now-closed Bethlehem Steel mill. These days she drives herself to the same location, only now it’s a Zulily warehouse.
The 54-year-old earns $13.50 an hour putting together shipments at the warehouse. (According to the U.S. Labor Department, the average warehouse worker earns $15.47 an hour, compared with $22.36 in the metals manufacturing industry.)
Gaugler says some folks in town are nostalgic for the time when the steel mill filled the sky with black smoke and the furnaces churned all day. But not her. “These are secure jobs,” she said. “With the steel, you didn’t know if you would have a job the next day.”
Think spirits and ghosts only haunt houses? Think again.
Just in time for Halloween, we offer three haunted warehouse stories for your reading pleasure…
Beware of the Dark Room
A 22-year-old Philadelphia resident, who goes by the name of “King K,” relayed the following harrowing tale:
As a Walmart employee, King sometimes must travel to the company’s warehouse, about an hour’s drive from the store. It’s a massive structure, full of pallets and merchandise. In the back of the warehouse is the Dark Room, so named because no one could ever get the lights to work in the room. And several of King’s co-workers (including his manager) said they felt an overwhelming sense of fear and dread whenever they worked around the room.
King had also heard stories about flickering lights throughout the warehouse and a dark creature with glowing red eyes that inhabited the Dark Room. He had always laughed off these tales.
One day while working at the warehouse, King took a break to visit the men’s room, a place he later described as “beyond creepy.” Although most of the room was lighted, the back two stalls were intensely dark. “Impossibly dark,” he said. Then King suddenly felt a cold chill flow through his body. His hair stood on end.
Later that day, King’s curiosity led him to investigate the Dark Room. His co-worker, Ray, reluctantly agreed to go along. At first, all they could barely make out in the darkness were some old tables and debris scattered around the room. “No demons or ghosts in here,” King said.
As he started to leave and was just yards away from the door, something huge squawked loudly and flew past him. “What was that?!” King screamed. As he and Ray looked up towards the ceiling, they could discern the outline of something birdlike, “like a raven, only impossibly huge.” He went on to describe it:
“It was like a shadow that had arisen from the ground and had become a shape itself. It’s eyes though—that’s what gave it away. They were red. But not so much glowing, just a glossy red. I could feel a pressure or a presence coming from the thing.”
Then Ray placed his hand on King’s shoulder and yanked on his shirt. King finally “snapped out of it,” and they both ran out of the room.
The Woman in White
Our next haunted warehouse story is told by a California girl named Stephanie, whose father works at a car dealership in Vallejo, California. The dealership keeps a warehouse for overflow inventory on nearby Mare Island—a naval shipyard which is considered one of the most haunted places in the San Francisco Bay area.
Stephanie’s dad is quite friendly with the night-shift security guards at the warehouse, who would often relay stories to him of strange phenomena, such as flickering lights and mysterious loud, banging noises.
One day, after the warehouse had upgraded its security cameras, one of the security guards was testing the new cameras. He moved camera angles around and played back recorded footage to see how it looked.
Then, while viewing the different monitors, the guard suddenly froze.
There on the footage, staring back at him, was the figure of a woman dressed in white standing by one of the warehouse posts. The guard captured the image on his phone:
Is it a ghost? You be the judge.
An Old Houston Haunt
Our last haunted warehouse story involves a place that is not actually a warehouse anymore. But it did start out as one.
Spaghetti Warehouse in Houston was part of an Italian restaurant chain, headquartered in Dallas. (There’s also one in Syracuse.)
Built around 1912, the structure was originally the site of a fruit and vegetable warehouse. It later housed a pharmaceutical company. According to Preservation Houston, the building’s location was among a very busy row of warehouses that would line the street leading to the port.
After the building became the Spaghetti Warehouse in 1973, many signs of haunting were told over the years. Customers and staff alike relay stories of floating wine glasses, strange flickers of light, cold spots (even during heat waves), mysterious sounds, mysterious sightings, and voices in the night (sometimes calling people’s names).
Although some long-time staff refused to speak about their ghostly encounters, the restaurant managers willingly recounted the haunting tales and their history.
Apparently, it all began when the building served as a pharmacy in the early 1900’s. One day, one of the pharmacists was tragically killed by a freak accident after falling down the elevator shaft. Devastated by his death, the pharmacist’s wife died of a broken heart exactly one year later.
The pair of ghosts then began to roam the building—the wife primarily on the second floor, while the husband shuffled around in the men’s restroom. The ghost of the wife was said to rearrange furniture, leave the dishes and silverware in disarray, tap guests on their shoulders and pull their hair.
In the past few decades, various forms of “lean” strategy have taken the business world by storm. (Think lean manufacturing, lean management or lean construction.) See related article, “6 Key Lean Manufacturing Principles.”
One of the most popular workplace organization methods to develop from the “lean” movement is called “5S” methodology. 5S has been found to be particularly useful in manufacturing and warehouse environments.
What Is 5S?
In its simplest terms, 5S helps accomplish one of the basic objectives of lean strategy: making problems visible.
5S uses visual signals to communicate important information. These visuals can include diagrams, pictograms, color-coding, floor markings and photographs. They allow everyone to quickly understand the information being conveyed.
The 5S methodology originated in Japan. Hence, the five S’s stand for five Japanese words: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke. These words are typically translated as “sort,” “set in order” (or “straighten”), “shine,” “standardize” and “sustain.”
But 5S is much more than just organizing your factory or warehouse to make everything look great. It’s about having more efficient operations, excelling at training and communications and, in the end, saving time and money. A facility that has implemented 5S is able to identify issues quickly, address the root causes, and solve the problems in the short term to prevent recurrence.
Let’s explore each step within the 5S process and its application within a manufacturing or warehouse environment:
The First “S” — Sort
The goal of the sorting phase is to remove unnecessary items from the space being organized, and provide a clean slate on which to implement the other four steps.
How to Do It:
Begin by removing virtually everything from the designated workspace. While it may seem as though placing everything into one large pile is just making a mess, it’s an important step in the sorting process, as it allows you to truly decide which items are no longer necessary to your operation.
Arrange four industrial bins and label them as “Keep,” “Remove,” “Decide,” and “Relocate.”
Keep: These are the essential, frequently used items. They are the tools that should be returned to the work area after sorting is complete.
Remove: These are unneeded items that are simply taking up valuable space, such as broken or outdated tools, or components that have passed their expiration date. Many companies use 5S Tags (or “red tags”) when sorting out unneeded items. The tag is easy to see and workers can quickly determine which items are to be removed.
Decide: These are items that need to be evaluated for use. Set a specific amount of time for determining if the items should be kept; after that time has passed, the items are either discarded or organized back into the workspace.
Relocate: These items are not frequently needed but must still be accessible when they are required. They will eventually be relocated to areas that make the most sense.
The Second “S” — Set in Order
This is the phase where all the items in the “Keep” bin are returned to the workspace in a specific, well-organized manner. This phase is truly about finding the most efficient and sensible places for tools and other items within a specific area.
How to Do It:
Clear expectations are essential in this phase of 5S methodology. Workers are more likely to comply when they know what is expected with regard to cleanliness of their workspace. Posting imagery nearby that shows the fully cleaned state of a workspace can be a guide, as can an information board indicating step-by-step cleaning instructions.
Cleaning should always be carried out routinely, on a schedule, not in response to a workspace that has grown too cluttered to navigate efficiently.
The Fourth “S” — Standardize
The Standardize step of 5S methodology is all about auditing and regularly checking in on 5S efforts. It’s the bridge between the Shine step and the final step of Sustain.
Finally, the audits and checklists should be used to ensure the processes are running smoothly and as expected. Tracking measures should be put into place so that any undesired results can be addressed immediately.
Some in the manufacturing community have contended that there should be a sixth “S” for Safety. They believe that safety is important enough to warrant its own category in this organizational methodology.
But many others believe that safety is a key component in all of the other 5 S’s and, therefore, to create a separate category would be redundant.
Safety is an integral part of the Sort, Set in Order and Shine phases of any 5S project. The other two steps, Standardize and Sustain, focus on the methods used to ensure that safety is maintained.
We’ve presented a lot of information. As a brief recap, the following video clip summarizes the 5S process:
In 2014, 21-year-old Candace Carnahan was working her summer job at a paper mill near her Canadian hometown. One day she took a shortcut that she had seen many others take before: She stepped over a conveyor belt.
Carnahan’s foot got caught in a pinch point and was pulled into the machine. The conveyor kept running for a few seconds, until a co-worker heard her screams and pushed the manual stop button.
But not before Carnahan’s toes had been severed by the conveyor. Her left leg later had to be amputated.
As with all machinery, conveyors are only as safe as the people using them. Let’s review some common sense safety rules and standards:
Don’t Tread on Me
Workers should never sit on, stand on, climb on, walk on, or otherwise misuse a conveyor — ever. This includes reaching into, climbing over or crawling under the conveyor when it’s in motion.
While this rule may seem fairly obvious, disregarding it is one of the most common causes of injuries involving conveyors.
(Note: The only possible exception to this rule is during maintenance or repair, and then only by qualified technicians.)
Conveyors that are loaded beyond capacity can overheat and malfunction, leading to damage and the potential for accidents due to falling goods. Make sure all workers are aware of the safe operating capacity of every conveyor. Managers must enforce this safety standard — for the good of the workers and the equipment.
With thousands of worker bees deftly manipulating expensive machinery in round-the-clock shifts. Creating planes, cars, batteries. Efficient little cities of industry within four walls. All vast, sprawling production complexes.
Every year, 85 U.S. operators of Powered Industrial Trucks (PITs) — more commonly known as forklifts — leave for work in the morning and never return home.
The most tragically ironic situation occurred in the late 90’s in Perth, Australia. During the filming of a forklift safety video, the 52-year-old owner of a machinery training school was thrown from the forklift cabin and crushed to death.
The old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” was never more appropriate than when applied to forklift safety. Which is why daily, pre-shift inspection of all powered industrial trucks is required by OSHA standards.
Any defects in the equipment can lead to a serious accident, so early detection is paramount. While OSHA does not require a documentation of a daily inspection, a written checklist is always a good idea. Checklists vary depending on the type of forklift or other PIT being used, but most include the following:
Are there any hydraulic leaks in the mast or elsewhere?
Are fuel connections tight and battery terminals covered?
Is there any lint, grease, oil or other flammable material on the forklift?
Are there any deformities in the forks, mast, overhead guard or backrest?
Are tires at proper pressure and free of damage?
Are seat belts working and accessible?
Is the load capacity plate readable?
Do all controls (such as lift, lower and tilt) work smoothly?
Is the horn working?
Are the lights operational?
Is steering responsive?
Do brakes stop smoothly and reliably?
Does the parking break hold the forklift on an incline?
Are there any sparks or flames coming from the exhaust system?
Does the engine show signs of overheating?
If you detect anything wrong with the forklift, do not operate it until the necessary repairs have been made.
Remember: Your employer, your co-workers and your family are counting on you to safely complete every work shift. So be smart and be safe!
Last year’s hurricane season dealt a devastating blow to Texas, Florida and, most notably, Puerto Rico. Recovery efforts are still continuing, and will be for a long time.
But in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, ensuring that critical supplies reach affected populations is paramount. Food, water, medicine and other life-sustaining materials must be quickly transported, stored and distributed so as to do the most good. But how?
The Logistics Hurdle
In disaster relief operations, logistics is often the biggest hurdle. In fact, as much as 80 percent of disaster relief costs go toward transporting, warehousing, and distributing goods and services to affected communities.
ALAN’s disaster relief work is built on strong relationships among supply-chain businesses, relief organizations, and governments.
That Challenging Last Mile
When managing a supply chain under desperate conditions, the greatest logistics challenge is the notorious “last mile.”
Flooded roadways… devastated distribution centers… disabled communications.. Often all of these converge in the last mile of a relief effort. Critical medicine can be shipped thousands of miles only to spoil in the sun as relief workers tend to victims.
Frank Clary is a project director at global logistics provider Agility. He knows just how challenging that last mile can be. In his view, 3PLs are just one resource in the disaster relief tool kit – and not even the most important one. Clary has seen NGOs and voluntary organizations active in disaster (known as “VOADs”) perform feats that hardly seem possible. Under the worst possible conditions these organizations not only establish logistics, but also create medical and food relief infrastructure — within days.
“We couldn’t do it, but humanitarian aid groups do it all the time,” Clary said. “We learn a lot from them.”
Companies that rely on wood pallets to transport their wares now can feel even better about their choice.
The latest research from Virginia Tech indicates that a whopping 95% of all wood pallets are now being recycled. According to trade publication Environmental Leader, the two-year study showed that “wood pallets are increasingly being reused as long as possible, and then are being converted to mulch, animal bedding, or biofuel.”
Avoiding the Landfill
Both municipal solid waste (MSW) and construction and demolition (C&D) landfill facilities were surveyed. The study found that, over the last 20 years, the number of pallets entering landfills has dropped by 86%.
And pallets that do end up there are often recycled by the waste facilities themselves. Several factors have contributed to this recyling trend at landfills, such as:
Limited space, and
Desire to be more waste efficient
So now many waste facilities also sort and recover several different types of debris.
“Of those wooden pallets that arrive at landfills, both MSW and C&D facilities recycle even further. The results show that landfill facilities have increased their wood and wood pallet recovery areas over the past two decades. For MSW facilities, this number increased from 33% to 62% of facilities, while for C&D facilities, the number increased from 27% to 45%.” — Laszlo Horvath, assistant professor, Virginia Tech
Pallet recycling has become a rapidly growing segment of the pallet industry in recent decades. As perceptions have changed, pallet users have gravitated toward more sustainable solutions.
But they also have financial incentives for recycling. Savvy business owners know that reconditioned pallets are just as sturdy and dependable as the originals, and they’re typically offered at a substantially lower price than new pallets of similar quality.
According to the Virginia Tech researchers, U.S. businesses are particularly inclined to recycle their pallets when they are located within close proximity to a pallet recycler or a company that grinds pallets into mulch.
Remember when “Amazon” was a rain forest or a river, and a “tweet” was the sound a bird made? Just as the digital world has changed beyond recognition in the last 20 years, so too has third-party logistics (3PL).
Over the past several years, the 3PL industry has greatly expanded its global footprint. That trend is expected to grow. Why? More than 80% of all Fortune 500 companies currently use warehousing, distribution, software services, and domestic and international transportation management. And these services form the crux of the 3PL landscape.
A research report from Global Markets Insight indicates that third-party logistics will be well over a $1 billion industry by 2022. That’s an annual increase of 4.4%.
These kinds of increases require continual evolution and adaptation. Let’s take a look at some of the major trends in 3PL’s:
In the Clouds
3PL providers are increasingly utilizing extensive cloud-based technologies. These systems enable businesses to store a massive influx of data. But they also allow clients to easily access their systems, and they improve the overall effectiveness of a company’s logistics.
In addition, the emergence of “big data” analytics, smart technology, and data sharing continues to help 3PL’s evolve. For example, increased data sharing is expected to help improve tracking services across the supply chain. And experts predict that the amount of big data will grow from 3.2 to 40 zettabytes by the year 2020. (See sidebar, “How Much Is a Zettabyte?”)
Also, with the increased use of mobile apps, customers will be able to track the details of their shipments and process freight shipments from anywhere. This will further fuel the industry trends.
The business landscape of 3PL industry will grow increasingly complex as supply chain operations expand massively worldwide. So 3PL market players will need to stay on top of the game. They’ll have to understand international legal implications and regulatory compliance if they want to maintain their position.
The emergence of new markets, currency exchange, and international trade will serve as growth indicators for the 3PL’s of the future.
Experts expect that heavy deployment of automation will push 3PL industry size over the next few years. For one thing, automated warehouses use up about 40% less floor space than traditional warehouses. Increasingly, warehouse 3PL’s are relying on automated lifts and robotics to reduce the amount of space needed for storage. (See related article, “Warehouse Automation: How Far Should You Go?“)
On-road automation is another area where expansion is expected. Self-driving trucks are already undergoing extensive testing on U.S. roads. For instance, one San Francisco-based company (Otto) has been developing these trucks and testing them on California roadways since January 2016. Uber acquired the company in August 2016 for $680 million, and testing continues today:
Keeping It Green
Green logistics is increasing being adopted by prominent 3PL providers to address growing environmental concerns. High-impact partners like 3PL’s have found that they can make their clients feel good by doing good.
For instance, new innovations are making it more possible to limit the carbon impact of the carrier route. Amazon’s Prime Air is a case in point. The service’s drones could provide an energy-efficient alternative for those nooks and crannies that electric vehicles can’t reach. (See related article, “Delivery Drones: Coming Soon to a Warehouse Near You.”)
Route and load optimization and efficient packaging are some other measures undertaken as a part of the green logistics initiative.
The global growth of online retail is expected to generate lucrative avenue for 3PL’s. Did you know that Amazon has increased its distribution space by an astounding 1000% in the last 10 years?
In fact, retail giants such as Amazon are likely to transform into full-fledged 3PL providers. By the same token, companies operating in the core transportation sector are also expected to penetrate the global 3PL market. Which means current 3PL key players will need to brace themselves for additional challenges and continue to develop technologically advanced and upgraded services in order to sustain their business position.
You click the “Submit Order” button on your favorite e-tailer’s website and wait. Thirty minutes later, a delivery drone deposits the parcel on your front porch.
If major players like Amazon, Google and Walmart have their way, this scenario will soon play out all across the country. In fact, what began as little more than a pipe dream a few years ago continues to inch closer to certainty as regulatory hurdles are overcome.
It’s easy to see the appeal of such a Jetsonion delivery system. But is it cost-effective? And how long will it really be before delivery drones become mainstream?
Driven by Two Factors
Flying at altitudes up to 1,000 feet, the airships would communicate with a remote scheduling system, telling the drones when to fetch packages from inside the blimp and head to their destinations.
But perhaps the drones’ best feature is also its most obvious one: They can go where there are no roads. And considering that about one billion people on the planet do not have access to all-season roads, that’s significant.
Take Rwanda, for instance, where drone deliveries have already taken flight. That country relies increasingly on drone technology in order to receive critical supplies.
Far removed from the American PR circus surrounding retail and e-tail deliveries, U.S.-based tech company Zipline uses its drones as “sky ambulances.” Their drones deliver lifesaving blood supplies by parachute to remote hospitals and clinics located hours outside the Rwandan capital of Kigali.
By focusing on critical medical supplies, Zipline has successfully convinced regulators to tolerate the potential safety risks of delivery drones. As it turns out, that’s a lot easier to do when the deliveries are saving lives and not just bringing the latest cosmetic or a new pair of shoes.
Smaller Players, Too
But don’t discount minor players in the drone delivery game, either. For instance, a small startup company called Flirtey recently partnered with convenience store chain 7-Eleven.
Together, they’re experimenting with using drones to deliver over-the-counter medications (and perhaps, Slurpees and chili dogs). Take a look:


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TCS deploys blockchain platform to boost Covid-19 testing capacity
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on Tuesday said it has deployed its blockchain-based digital supply chain platform for a new project at the government-run Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP).
The TCS platform will help C-CAMP build, manage and double its community of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to boost the indigenous production capacity of Covid-19 test kits to a million a day, a statement said.
The newly-launched project, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, is called Indigenisation of Diagnostics (InDx). It aims to build a supply-chain ecosystem of Indian MSMEs that are capable of producing large quantities of reagents and other components needed for RT-qPCR-based and other diagnostic test kits for Covid-19.
“The project entails eliminating supply-chain bottlenecks, and handholding MSMEs to help them bridge capability gaps, meet necessary quality standards and expand capacities to be able to indigenously produce a million test kits a day,” the statement said.
Launched in 2009, C-CAMP is an initiative supported by the centre’s Department of Biotechnology for research and innovation in life sciences. It facilitates bioscience research and entrepreneurship by providing research, development, training and services in technology platforms, as per its website.
TCS said its supply-chain platform is powered by its Data Marketplace solution. The solution facilitates standardized, controlled data exchanges across ecosystem participants with the necessary security and privacy protection, using blockchain at the back-end to ensure the immutability of audit logs, it said.
Read: TCS, Yale University develop blockchain framework to give data privacy back to users
At InDx, the solution aggregates test kit supply data of tier II and III manufacturers of kits, enzymes, primers and antibodies, and provides ready visibility to tier 1 suppliers as well as to C-CAMP on supplier-specific quality levels, capacities and inventories.
The capability allows C-CAMP to respond to the demand for the test kits from the government as testing programmes are ramped up across the country, the statement said.
“The TCS Data Marketplace solution is the lynchpin that anchors InDx’s supplier ecosystem of micro, small and medium enterprises, democratizing supplier data, enhancing supply-chain visibility, and driving superior outcomes for all stakeholders,” Dinanath Kholkar, global head of analytics and insights unit at TCS, said.


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Sniper dev City Interactive has 4 FPS titles in development
City Interactive seem to be very busy boys indeed as it appears that they have four first-person shooters in development.
It has already been confirmed that the developer has a license to produce three titles using Crytek's CryEngine 3.
This will include a WWII shooter headed up by the new creative director of their London studio Stuart Black.
These three shooters are accompanied by a fourth shooter being built using the Unreal Engine 3. A spokesperson said to Eurogamer of the three unconfirmed titles: "It could be that one of them is Sniper 2.".
- Sleeping Dogs follow-up Triad Wars is a PC-only online title
- Latest Destiny patch dials back the difficulty levels in some missions
- Call Of Duty: Advanced Warfare co-op reveal dated for tomorrow
- Blizzard finally cans Titan
- The Xbox One is now cheaper than the PS4 in the UK
- Counter-Strike Nexon: Zombies open beta is live now
- Ultima creator's new game Shroud Of The Avatar gets Greenlit on Steam in just 2 days
- Arrowhead's Gauntlet reboot arrives on PC
- We are now a Steam Curator


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By Dr. Vikram Kumar, Co-Founder and Managing Director of SRV Media
CIOs are looking at Metaverse
To those who are updated with the kind of revolution Metaverse is about to bring about in the way we conduct commerce, it is needless to say, at least for the world of business, the appeal of the metaverse is not for the sheer novelty of emergent technology.
In the last decade, the very way social media has become a ubiquitous and inseparable part of our life, the metaverse is about to touch our lives in that manner. Leveraging the immersive nature of the metaverse, entrepreneurs have started to eye the metaverse as a tool to boost consumer engagement in order to make the most out of the parallel digital lives we have built for ourselves.
Based on Roblox, the metaverse ecosystem of Nike, the company recently launched its virtual sneakers and outfits, garnering a whooping sales of $3.1 million. The brand owes this successful campaign to the power of Non-fungible Tokens, a unique digital identifier that uses blockchain technology to assert authentication and ownership.
This recent performance of forward-looking, high-end brands testifies to the potency of the metaverse as the tool which is set to change the present way of life fundamentally. That the future is metaverse, it is amply clear. International market aside, in the Indian scenario, Metaverse technology, despite being at its nascent stage, has still allured major players in the business, including companies such as Tech Mahindra, TCS and Infosys. As major businesses are looking into Metaverse, it is only a matter of a few years before India will see a Metaverse Revolution.
According to a recent report by Deloitte, the economic impact of the technology is set to degenerate between $ 79- 148 billion by FY2035 despite the fact that the hardware necessary to experience the Metaverse is far too cutting-edge and limited in India and, ergo, unaffordable.
Aligned with metaverse, in 2021, as suggested by the Deloitte Report, in India, VC investments stood at US$38.5 billion, amounting to US$400 billion in valuation. Moreover, investments were made into 50,000 active start-ups, including 107 unicorns. Such is the promise of the Metaverse.
Given the inevitability of the revolution we have yet to witness, companies must find ways to tap into it to propel their success. To prepare their companies for the Metaverse, here are a few things for CIOs to consider:
It’s immersive; therefore, engage.
Marketing, in its essence, is effective story-telling. Capitalising on the power of the metaverse, marketers are looking at surpassing the challenges of running campaigns that flat, traditional media interfaces could only deliver so well. In the digital world, gaming has never stopped being the rage. Imagine adding to it the 360-degree experience of the metaverse. Thus, with the emergence of the metaverse, we are looking at integrating campaigns into immersive games or making campaigns themselves into mini-games or videos, which will push the new revolution on the marketing front. The change only awaits our creativity to unfurl.
Metaverse is all about the touch and feel, which we never knew was digitally possible. Since the COVID-19 crisis, virtual seminars and meetings have become the so-called “new normal”. The epidemic has shown how critical the power of virtual engagement is while exposing the gap in communication in the absence of the comforting in-person touch. Filling in this want in virtual interaction, the metaverse, while being virtual, gives us the much sought-after 3-D presence of people.
With this enhanced way to engage, the companies have before themselves a new horizon of business opportunities. Nike’s virtual shoes serve as evidence that virtual products have a potential market that we have yet to experience to its fullest. In fact, what the example of the virtual Nike shoes shows is that, given how new the metaverse experience is, it takes only simple ideas to make an effective campaign.
Ushering in a new trend in the world economy, several start-ups worldwide are working on avatars that will be able to produce, own, sell, or invest in virtual items within the metaverse. Moreover, in the context of business collaboration or deals, the metaverse could serve as the perfect digital tool which could carry the nuances of human and cultural interactions that would not previously transpire virtually.
To put it succinctly, given what can be so far be gauged, the hype around the metaverse seems to be every bit worthy. While predicting the future of the economy in terms of virtual goods might require more time, with the metaverse, customer engagement is sure to reach new heights.


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People have been issued a reminder that colder, darker nights are upon us as Halloween decorations are being spotted in shops across the city.
It is well-known that shops are often one season ahead as they promote their jumpers during the summer and bikinis during the winter!
And towards the start of the summer holidays, shops start to display spooky decorations in preparation for Halloween on October 31st.
Despite the holiday being 81 days away, listeners have noticed that Home Sense at the Kingston Centre has put up its Halloween display.
The Range is also in the process of installing its Halloween decor in each store.
Have you spotted any other stores with Halloween, or even Christmas, decorations in? Email email@example.com!


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Lululemon founder Chip Wilson — who famously blamed the company’s quality-control issues on women’s thighs — stepped down as chairman today. The company has also announced a successor to CEO Christine Day, who resigned amid Lululemon’s recall of defective yoga pants last spring. Day will be replaced by Laurent Potdevin, who was most recently president of Toms Shoes, and Wilson will have a seat on the board.
After the pants were pulled from the shelves early this year for quickly becoming sheer and pilled, Wilson told Bloomberg News the product just didn’t work for some women’s bodies.
Reporter: So the pants might be see-through on some women’s bodies, but not on others?
Chip: No, no. Because even our small sizes would fit an extra-large. It’s more about the rubbing through the thighs, and how much you’re using it.
Despite his subsequent, sad, non-apology video, analysts say Wilson alienated some core customers, like size-eights. It’s less about the defective pants and more about his bald head, and how little he was using it.


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RALEIGH, N.C. - North Carolina didn't receive any bids on eBay for its state-owned helicopter.
But the Department of Transportation isn't giving up.
The state decided to sell the chopper after Eyewitness News uncovered it only logged 15 hours last year.
The state set a $1.5 million opening bid for the helicopter, but no one met the asking price before the eBay auction closed Monday.
A governor spokesman said the DOT is relisting the chopper on eBay.
If it doesn't sell, the agency will continue to pursue options to sell it.
Check out the listing on eBay here.
NC's state-owned helicopter fails to sell on eBay for $1.5M
Officials recover nine bodies from wreckage of California warehouse fire
Driver charged after one killed in north Charlotte wreck, police say
Fort Mill pharmacy robbed of $73,000 in pills, authorities say
Person shot in the leg during home invasion in southeast Charlotte


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ICO Alert Crypto Minute: July 11, 2018
Litecoin acquires equity in German bank, New cryptocurrency phone to be released in November and Walmart ramping up blockchain delivery solution.
Litecoin Acquires 10 Percent of German Bank
According to Coindesk, Litecoin Foundation has acquired a 9.9 percent stake in a German bank. Charlie Lee, Managing Director of Litecoin said in a recent release: “I’m looking forward to integrating Litecoin with the WEG Bank AG and all the various services it has to offer, to make it simple for anyone to buy and use Litecoin.” TokenPay passed ownership of the 9.9 percent of equity in WEG Bank AG to Litecoin Foundation in exchange for Litecoin’s ability to leverage their technical know-how of creating cryptocurrency payments.
Sirin Labs’ Cryptocurrency Phone Slated for November
Sirin Labs, known for its $14,000 Solarin privacy phone is launching a product for cryptocurrency fans called the Finney. Named after Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney, the phone is described as a “state of the art mobile device” for the “blockchain era.”
From Engadget: Slide out the back and you’ll find a secondary display, called the Safe Screen, that’s only used for crypto transactions. The company says that the Safe Screen runs on dedicated firmware that lets users check where there coinage is being sent before they pay. The slider also activates the cold storage wallet that is designed to hold a significant number of different cryptocurrencies.
Walmart Files Blockchain Patent for Delivery Services
Walmart is seeking to solve the complicated problem of delivery with a blockchain solution. According to CCN, the Arkansas based retailer was awarded a patent that was initially submitted in January of 2017. The patent is focused on the delivery and scheduling of delivery for various packages. From CCN: “The patent talks of delivery hubs, very similar to Amazon’s lockers, which will use a public blockchain to determine available capacity and make reservations for delivery.”


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Today, the Xbox team and Nike unveiled their exclusive “Space Jam: A New Legacy” feature film-inspired Xbox Wireless Controller and sneaker bundle.
After many months collaborating with Warner Bros. and Nike, Xbox is excited to officially unveil an exclusive “Space Jam: A New Legacy” feature film-inspired Xbox Wireless Controller and sneaker bundle. Launching in the Nike SNKRS app in North America on July 15, the bundle includes a Road Runner vs Wile E. Coyote Nike LeBron 18 Low and – for the first time ever on the Nike SNKRS app – an exclusive Road Runner vs Wile E. Coyote Xbox Wireless Controller. This special release duo features a design inspired by the classic and relentless Looney Tunes chase between the crafty Wile E. Coyote and the ever-elusive Road Runner.
This exclusive controller is an addition to the three new “Space Jam” inspired controllers Xbox announced last week celebrating “Space Jam: A New Legacy – The Game”. The official film-inspired arcade-style video game is launching exclusively into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks today. It will be available free-to-play for all on the Microsoft Store on July 15.
Check out the new controller! Thoughts?


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In a speech at the Institute for Supply Management’s annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV, firm President Robert Kuhn told the audience of supply chain professionals that they play a key role in helping their companies report corporate environmental and social performance information. According to Kuhn, a variety of stakeholders, including consumers, government bodies, and NGOs have all contributed to the atmosphere of increased pressure to track and report non-financial information, much of which comes from supply chain partners.
In his talk, Kuhn advised those in attendance to:
- first determine what social and environmental impacts are material to their business
- scan the supply chain stakeholder universe thoroughly in order to involve all relevant stakeholders in the process, and
- take time to understand and make use of the latest Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting framework, which includes the G4 Guidelines and Implementation Manual.


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MILAN — Despite Italy’s current political instability and market volatility, iconic notebook brand Moleskine has pushed forward with its public listing, making its debut on the Milan Stock Exchange on Wednesday in what many here view as a barometer for other potential initial public offerings.
Moleskine is the first company to go public here after Brunello Cucinelli SpA in April last year. Moncler shelved its IPO in summer 2011, but chairman and chief executive officer Remo Ruffini has repeatedly said that a listing remains the company’s goal — an objective confirmed last month as parent company investment firm Eurazeo identified this as the most likely exit method either at the end of this year or in early 2014. Pianoforte Holding — which comprises fast-fashion accessories brand Carpisa, innerwear and beachwear brand Yamamay and swimwear brand Jaked — may list its shares in 2015. Men’s wear group Stefano Ricci is also eyeing a stock-market flotation down the road, as was Pomellato until rumors about Kering (formerly known as PPR) taking a stake in the Italian jewelry firm became more insistent.
Moleskine’s opening share price was set at 2.30 euros, or $2.95 at current exchange, and after reaching its peak at 2.39 euros, or $3.06, in early morning trading, shares closed down 0.87 percent at 2.28 euros, or $2.92.
Wednesday was a day of retreat, marking Italy’s struggles with its political maelstrom, as the FTSE MIB closed down 2.28 percent to 15,200.30 and the FTSE Italia STAR segment closed down 0.42 percent to 12,213.10.
The line of notebooks with the black cover favored by writers Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin went public on the STAR segment for companies with a capitalization between 40 million and 1 billion euros, or $51.3 million and $1.29 billion. Through the IPO, Moleskine’s capitalization totaled 487.6 million euros, or $626.2 million.
Syntegra Capital, a European-based private equity firm, bought a majority stake in Moleskine in 2006.
Raffaele Jerusalmi, ceo of Borsa Italiana, said, “The success of this IPO confirms the role of leadership of Borsa Italiana at a global level in the sector of luxury and lifestyle. We hope the listing will help Moleskine continue its growth projects and allow it to maintain and grow its positioning at an international level.”
Assouline is paying homage to the late Azzedine Alaïa with a reprint of "Alaïa Livre de Collection.” The book is comprised of photographs of the designer's summer 1992 runway show with models Christy Turlington Burns, Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks, pictured here at right. #wwdfashion #alaia #tyrabanks
Fall 2018 accessories take on a painterly hue, with Nebulas Blue among Pantone’s top 10 colors of the season. (📸: @jonghyupstudio ; editor: @twallz21 ; stylist and set designer: @haideefindlaylevin ) #wwdaccessories
@americanapparelusa is relaunching the brand outside of the U.S. today, opening its online store to more than 200 countries. The company is also contemplating a return to brick-and-mortar, though details have not been confirmed. In tandem with the expanded distribution is a recasting of a social media ad campagn, called “Back to Basics,” pictured here, with a focus on diversity and a cast of models above the age of 21. Read more on WWD.com #wwdnews #wwdfashion
Exclusive: @britneyspears is continuing to expand her brand. The pop icon, who appears in @kenzo ’s latest campaign, is partnering with Epic Rights to launch a line of branded merchandise. Read @hernameislex ‘s story, link in bio. #wwdnews #britneyspears
The Duchess of Cambridge channeled Princess Diana’s look upon giving birth to Prince Harry, when she and the Duke of Cambridge departed the hospital with the new baby Prince this afternoon in London. #wwdeye #princeofcambridge
The new Prince of Cambridge has arrived! The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posed with the 8-pound newborn. She wore a look from one of her go-to designers, @jennypackham. Tap link in bio for more. #wwdeye #princeofcambridge
Jewelry label @alisonlou has made a name for itself with fine jewelry that speaks to the Millennial market. Now @twallz21 reports that the label is bringing those playful ideas to a new affordable line of lucite hoops with the launch of Loucite by Alison Lou. Here’s a look from the line modeled by @emrata. #wwdaccessories
@sarahjessicaparker and @gilt are teaming up on a bridal ready-to-wear line. Tomorrow, Parker will launch SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker Bridal — and as part of the launch, Gilt will offer 15 exclusive styles from the SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker footwear collection that were designed to complement the new line. Made out of 10 styles, the line is designed for a variety of occasions, from bridal showers to receptions. Get more details on WWD.com #wwdfashion


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The results of the study, commissioned by the marketer, were reported at the American Heart Association conference in New Orleans. In the U.S. alone, as many as 7 million people not currently on the medications could benefit from taking so-called statins such as Crestor.
In the ultra-competitive $34 billion statin category, where Pfizer's Lipitor leads the way with $12.7 billion in sales last year, the results could be a boon for Crestor. Already AstraZenca's third best-selling drug with $2.8 billion in sales in 2007 and an estimated $3.45 billion this year, Crestor sales could double based on the results of the study, according to an analyst's note written by Steven Scala of Cowen & Co., Boston.
But increased sales -- and an increase in marketing -- might take a while.
"I would urge caution when forecasting the speed of such changes in medical practice," David Brennan, AstraZeneca's CEO, said on a conference call. "We will not be promoting the product until we get a label issued by regulatory agencies," including the Food and Drug Administration.
Julia Walker, senior director of cardiovascular and design for launch PR for AstraZeneca, told Advertising Age from New Orleans that the company will file for FDA label approval of this latest indication early next year, and expects to go to market in early 2010.
"The study has been presented here, and there has been generous media coverage," she said. "But beyond that, we can't do any promotion until label approval."
Crestor has been attacked over the years by various entities. The FDA asked AstraZeneca to cease advertising on the drug in 2005 because it made "false or misleading claims regarding the superiority of Crestor" in a series of direct-to-consumer ads. Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Washington-based Public Citizen's Health Research Group, has long been a critic of the drug, saying its side effects include kidney disease and muscle deterioration. But in 2005, the FDA responded by saying there is no evidence that Crestor poses a risk for either side effect.
Spending increased in '08
AstraZeneca has spent $78.2 million in measured media on Crestor through August of this year, according to TNS Media Intelligence, already far more than the $56.1 million it spent on the drug in all of 2007. Ms. Walker said the reason for the increased spending was that in late 2007 the FDA approved a new label that showed Crestor slowed the progression of atherosclerosis. Subsequently, in February, the company launched a new campaign handled jointly but Publicis Groupe's Digitas and Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
"Once we got that label, we went live in late February," Ms. Walker said. "We had a new story to tell."
By contrast, spending on Lipitor was $187.3 million last year (but only $32.8 million through the first eight months of 2008), and the outlay on Vytorin was $132.8 million in 2007 ($52.7 million through August of this year), according to TNS.
This latest study was conducted on people who had high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, or CRP, which is a measure of inflammation that can lead to clogged arteries. It involved 17,802 people with high CRP and low cholesterol (below 130) in 26 countries. Cardiologists say they have been baffled by ways to prevent heart attacks in victims who have normal cholesterol levels and relatively few risks. In the study, one serious heart-related trauma was prevented for every 25 patients treated with Crestor, and one death was prevented for every 180 patients treated with Crestor.
About half of all heart attack victims had normal cholesterol and few risk indicators. Dr. W. Douglas Weaver, a Detroit cardiologist and president of the American College of Cardiology, told the Associated Press that "this takes prevention to a whole new level, because it applies to patients who we now wouldn't have any evidence to treat."
A Pfizer spokeswoman said studies have shown that Lipitor lowers CRP as well, but that the drug does not have FDA label approval to market the results. She did not say whether Pfizer will seek such approval for Lipitor.


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Private Equity Major Advent To Buy ‘Significant’ Stake In Suven Pharma, Explore Merger
Private equity major Advent International will buy a 50.1% stake in Suven Pharmaceuticals Ltd from its promoter Jasti family and consider merging it with a peer in its portfolio, the Indian drugmaker said on Monday.
Suven said Advent would make an additional open offer for up to 26% of the voting share capital held by public shareholders at a price of 495 rupees per share. Shares rose as much as 4.8% to 520 rupees in early trading.
The Hyderabad-based company also said Advent intends to explore merging Suven with its wholly owned Cohance Lifesciences to build a company that specializes in active pharmaceutical ingredients as well as contract development and manufacturing businesses.
“(Advent’s) experience and resources will launch the next phase of growth for Suven… It will help us offer a broader set of services,” Suven Managing Director Venkateswarlu Jasti said in a statement.
As of last close, Suven had a market capitalization of 126 billion Indian rupees ($1.52 billion) with promoter Jasti Property and Equity Holdings Private Ltd owning 60% of the shares, according to data from Refinitiv.
($1 = 82.7800 Indian rupees)
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Tech Layoffs Globally, But Big Hiring In Fintech And E-Commerce In Chennai


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Bitcoin price slid by almost 40 percent overnight as traders feared the collapse of a popular cryptocurrency.The price of the digital currency plummeted on Tuesday to below $3,000, after traders warned it could lose a significant chunk of its value in the days to come as investors began to doubt the legitimacy of the bitcoin blockchain.The cryptocurrency gained more than 50 percent in value over t...
If you’re looking to buy a new, healthy food, or a supplement for a diet, you might be tempted to sign up for a smart food label.
A smart food brand could be a supplement or a nutritional supplement, but it could also be an ingredient in a new food or supplement.
But the good news is that a lot of the smart food labels are free.
And that includes the ones you might not know you’re missing out on.
Read More and some of the benefits.
The good news for people like me who are new to the world of smart food is that we have a lot to gain.
Most smart food brands are already offering a lot more than they have to offer.
They’re offering products with health benefits, nutritional benefits, and even a whole host of other benefits, too.
These benefits range from adding vitamins to your diet to helping with digestion.
But if you’re already a smart consumer, you’re probably not aware of the other benefits.
If you’re new to smart food, there are a couple things you should know.
First, smart food ingredients can only be labeled as a supplement if you’ve taken the full recommended dose of the ingredient.
This means if you get the whole daily dose of Vitamin C, you can’t take it with a smart supplement.
The other thing to know about smart food products is that if they’re not smart, they’re junk.
Junk food is a product that comes with ingredients that don’t work.
That’s not to say you can buy a smart candy bar and eat a lot and still feel full, but you’re going to feel empty.
If you think you’re eating a candy bar, it’s probably not a good idea.
Smart food companies also have to adhere to the same guidelines as traditional food.
This can be a real challenge for people who are not a huge fan of the traditional foods that are sold in the grocery store.
Many people who have never even heard of smart foods have no idea how to properly evaluate and weigh them before making an investment in smart food.
If smart food companies aren’t sticking to the rules of the market, then what’s the point?
Smart food companies don’t have to follow the same rules as traditional companies because they can’t.
Smart food products are often more expensive than the foods they’re based on.
But it’s still cheaper to buy the same food for less money.
There’s a reason the price of the food industry is currently hovering at around $3.50 per ounce.
This isn’t because consumers aren’t buying smart food anymore, but because smart food manufacturers have more room to grow.
Smart foods are also less likely to be contaminated.
Smart foods are usually tested to make sure that all of the ingredients are safe before they’re sold.
This is why there’s no evidence that smart food contamination is a problem.
Smartfood labels don’t even have to be filled out on the front of the package, so the manufacturer can use the information to make their own decisions.
This is another reason why smart food isn’t as popular as some of its competitors.
The food industry has been making smart food a huge priority in the last few years.
But smart food has been a relatively new trend for a long time, and consumers are hesitant to get involved.
Smart brands are being marketed to people who already have a healthy lifestyle, and there’s a bit of a perception that this is the same thing as a healthy diet.
So the smart foods are still coming, but we’re probably still at a point where we don’t know what we want.
For instance, many smart food marketers say that their products are just a way to get you more calories.
This sounds great, but is it really true?
Smart foods often come in packages that look like this:Smart foods contain foods like sugar, wheat, or grains.
This doesn’t mean that they’re healthier than the food that’s in your regular fridge, but the added nutrients and nutritional benefits don’t last as long as those in a packaged meal.
This makes them more expensive, and we still have no good idea how much the extra calories they’re serving actually help you lose weight.


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Most of the mobile providers in India hike call rates in this year so it is not a good news for the Indian mobile users. Bharti Airtel & Idea also hike call rates and raise voice call tariffs. After BSNL Bharti Airtel, Vodafone & Idea also raise voice call tariffs in India. The companies also planned to withdraw promotional offers.
As we know Bharti Airtel Ltd is the India’s top mobile phone carrier where as the Idea Cellular Ltd is India’s No.3 carrier by revenue and No.4 by customers. Both the companies announced to raise mobile voice call plans in India without giving any details. We yet not know both the companies will raise the price in which plans.
Along with them Vodafone also planned to hike voice call rates in India. Vodafone also one of the best mobile phone carriers in India. So all the three companies planned to increase the call price after BSNL.
All the three companies will soon give all the details of hike price in mobile plans provided by them. This is only a hint to the Indian mobile users before new plans. As we mentioned above the companies also withdraw promotional offers so the users will not able to make free calls or send free messages with the same price.


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HARDY, AR (KAIT) – Hardy is a town filled with unique shops, camping sites and tourists, and this time of year is one of the busiest.
"The primary source is tourism both the downtown area but primarily the river," said business owner Jeff Klein.
"We're a recreation area, we're a tourist area, we're a place to live a place to retire," said Mayor Nina Thornton.
Thornton said while they have a little bit of everything sometimes they have a little too much.
"The flooding always has a huge impact because it does flood up into our park area, into our camper park and it cuts off the roads," said Thornton.
The flooding from April and May shut down parts of the town for weeks.
"Typically this river, when it floods, it's very short it goes down in matter of hours or at the most days," said Klein.
"It comes up and it goes down fairly fast so it comes up devastates and leaves," said Thornton.
Klein owns Three Rivers Outfitters and said sometimes just the thought of the flooding river can impact his business.
"They feel like the river may still be up and I think many people don't plan to come here because they're actually afraid it is up," said Klein.
Mayor Thornton said Hardy has that small town appeal when it comes to businesses as well.
"If you bring in the factory you have 300 people that work at the factory. If the factory goes out you have 300 people unemployed," said Thornton.
That's one of the reasons she prefers small business.
"If you have a small business, a small entrepreneurship with two our three people working there or up to ten and for some reason you have to go out of business that's what you lose," said Thornton.
"I feel really good as the mayor to be able to know that my community is a thriving community," said Thornton.
Mayor Thornton said she has recently been in talks with the mayor of Cherokee Village about an advertising and promotion tax that Hardy has had in place for several years. Now those in Cherokee Village are considering a similar tax after seeing the good it is doing for Hardy.
Thornton said they also focus on building up their infrastructure in town so they have a good foundation to build on.


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By Rajesh Kumar Singh
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's headline inflation slowed to its lowest level in three years, hardening expectations for an interest rate cut by the central bank later this month to boost an economy that is set to post its slowest growth in a decade.
The wholesale price index (WPI), India's main inflation indicator, rose an annual 7.18 percent in December, the slowest since December 2009 and below analysts' forecast of 7.4 percent rise in a Reuters poll. Wholesale prices rose 7.24 percent in November.
The better-than-expected inflation data left most analysts debating not whether the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would cut interest rates at its policy review on January 29, but by how much.
"The probability of a rate cut in January-end has increased," Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank in New Delhi, said. "But the next question is whether it will be 25 basis points or higher."
Following the inflation data, financial markets rallied in anticipation of an early rate cut. India's 10-year bond yield fell to its lowest in 29 months. The rupee strengthened against the dollar, while swap rates fell.
The slowdown in the headline inflation was led by a moderation in the prices of fuel and manufactured goods. The annual reading for October was revised down to 7.32 percent from 7.45 percent, the government said in a release on Monday.
And a drop in non-manufacturing inflation, used by the RBI to gauge demand-driven price pressures, to 4.2 percent in December from 4.5 percent a month ago further bolstered hopes for the long-awaited cut.
Last month, amid mounting calls from politicians and industry for a lower borrowing rates, the RBI signalled a possible reduction in the January-March quarter.
The policy repo rate has remained unchanged at 8.0 percent since April 2012, putting India's interest rates among the highest of the major economies.
While a slowdown in the global economy has prompted many other central banks to support growth through monetary stimulus, the RBI has hitherto rebuffed calls for lower lending rates citing high inflation and the size of the fiscal deficit.
Economic growth that once looked poised to hit double-digits has been stuck below 6 percent for the past three quarters, hurt by a combination of weak investment and consumer demand.
(Read experts' views on December inflation data, click http://reut.rs/UjKFHx)
HIGHER CONSUMER PRICES
The slowdown has constrained job opportunities for a bulging young population, a worry for the Congress-led ruling alliance as it prepares for a series of state elections and a general election due in 2014.
It has also buffeted government revenues, swollen the fiscal deficit and put the country's investment-grade sovereign credit rating on the line.
Pilloried previously for his government's inaction as the economy lost steam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has launched a slew of bold measures since late last year.
Still, the economy is showing little signs of an upturn. Industrial output unexpectedly shrank in November, its fifth fall in the last eight months, and call for lower interest rates have grown louder.
Barua and several other economists, however, saw the RBI opting for caution deciding the scale of any cut, particularly as consumer prices were less encouraging.
Annual consumer price inflation accelerated to 10.56 percent in December on higher food prices from 9.90 percent a month ago.
Elevated retail inflation, a hike in rail passenger fares and a possible hike in fuel prices may limit the RBI's room for maneuver.
In a bid to mend its strained finances, the government last week hiked railway passenger fares after a gap of nine years and is studying a proposal to raise heavily subsidised fuel prices.
"We could see inflation below 7 percent by March, but the caveat is diesel prices," said A. Prasanna, economist at ICICI Securities, Primary Dealership, in Mumbai.
"At some point, the government has to raise diesel prices, as well as coal, and electricity prices. So, we see a scope for a total of 50 basis points cut in rates in January-March and then we expect a lengthy pause from the RBI."
(Additional reporting by Mumbai treasury and markets team; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)


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Headlines in the Global Wellness Economy
Global Wellness News™ | May 24th, 2022
Hotels and Airlines Cause Stress. Now They’re Trying to Relieve It.
Simply feeling relaxed on vacation doesn’t cut it anymore for a growing number of travelers. Many say they are more intently focused on their mental health and overall wellness on their trips as they have navigated the stresses of the pandemic.
F45 Announces First-of-its-kind $150 Million Financing Facility to Accelerate Franchise Expansion in the U.S.
AUSTIN, Texas, May 16, 2022–F45 Training Holdings Inc. (NYSE:FXLV) (“F45” or the “Company”), the fastest growing fitness franchisor in the world according to Entrepreneur, today announced a strategic financing facility with affiliates of Fortress Credit Corp. (“Fortress”).
Inside the smell-o-verse: Meet the companies trying to bring scent to the metaverse
A small army of startups see integrated scent as being key to our future digital world. But some see the tech as a distraction from the bigger picture.
New App Rewards Your ‘Healthy Actions’ with Money Off Wellness Brands
A new app promises to reward people for ‘healthy actions’ they already do, like exercising. Points earned through the Ness Rewards App can be redeemed at popular wellness brands. Users will also have access to wellness experts like dietitians and health coaches. The company is launching a suite of credit cards to help users earn even more points.
What China’s “45-Degree Life” Trend Means for Luxury | Jing Daily
A new movement, tang ping, or “lying flat” (躺平) arose among China’s youth last year. It represents an attitude that refuses to engage with the country’s grueling ” ” work culture – that is, working 9am to 9pm, six days a week. Despite going viral online, is this trend indicative of a widespread cultural change?
Hinge’s latest feature aims to help users spark conversations about self-care
Dating app Hinge is introducing a new “Self-Care Prompts” feature that is designed to inspire initial conversations between matches about self-care priorities. Hinge’s in-app prompts are conversation starters that users answer as part of their profiles and are displayed to potential matches.


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If the movie industry wonders why piracy seems to persist, here's one possible answer: people pirate 'em because they don't have the option of paying for a legal copy online.
At least that's according to a new website called PiracyData.org, reports the Washington Post. Mashing together lists of the most-pirated movies from TorrentFreak with data from CanIStreamIt, a search engine that helps find legitimate sources for copyrighted films, PiracyData.org has found that many of the films people want to watch the most just aren't available. The Post explains:
In last week's results, not a single film was available from streaming from services like Netflix or Amazon Prime. Only three of the top 10 films, The Lone Ranger, After Earth, and This is the End, were available for online rental... And just six of the top 10 movies (Pacific Rim, The Internship, The Lone Ranger, Monsters university, After Earth, and This Is the End) were available for online purchase.
And last week was no anomaly; the site has seen the same thing over the past few weeks since it started up. All of which suggests that, before the movie industry continues to gripe, it may as well try and do something to help itself. [PiracyData.org via Washington Post]


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It’s that time of year again. Facebook is about to have its 8th conference going over the future of Facebook, and if it’s anything like last years…we are in for big changes! Last year we learned about the New Messenger Platform for Developers, Allowing Users to Connect Directly with Businesses on Messenger, Support of 360 Degree Videos, New Mobile Analytics Tool, How Facebook Paid Out More than $8B to Developers, and that More Than 30M Apps Have Been Made Using Facebook’s Platform.
So what does this year hold in store for business and Facebook going into 2016 and beyond?
Some of this year’s sessions to keep a close eye on include:
- The Future of Video
- Growth Marketing and how to keep an audience.
- Best Practices for Advertising on Facebook and Instagram
- and Ne Marketing APIs
Some of the big announcements expected to come out this year is new timelines for Instagram, the roll out of instant articles, Facebook Live, and messenger updates. It’s looking like an exciting year at Facebook ahead. Are you excited to see where things go? What are you looking forward to the most?


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|Powersports Business will be the official sponsor of the new Powersports & Utility Vehicles section of the SEMA Show.|
Readers may recall in the May 28 issue of SEMA eNews mention of a soon-to-be-announced strategic partnership with a leading powersports trade publication. Well, the wraps are off and the promotions are underway.
In an effort to better connect the powersports industry, SEMA has formed a marketing partnership with Powersports Business magazine that includes official sponsorship of the Powersports Business Conference & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 31–September 1.
Additionally, Powersports Business will be the official section sponsor of the SEMA Show Daily and the all-new Powersports & Utility Vehicles section of the SEMA Show, November 3–6, in Las Vegas.
"This partnership will help to identify cross-selling opportunities between the automotive specialty-equipment and powersports industries," said Tom Myroniak, VP of Marketing and Member Services at SEMA.
"With significant overlap in lifestyle activities and interests between powersports and traditional SEMA consumers, we expect this effort will create value for show participants."
For more information about the SEMA Show, visit www.SEMAShow.com.


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Latest Computer virus Stories
idcloak has released an article detailing Bart PE Windows 7 live US and the protective capabilities of this technology. Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) September 28, 2013
Telx Computers, one of the industry leaders in Miami computer repair, announces a new data recovery service for clients who fear they have lost data through servers crashing or files being corrupted.
A new study attempts to get out in front of the next global pandemic by estimating the total number of unknown diseases that could be found in mammals and the costs associated with identifying those viruses.
Virtual World for Kids’ 35th Island Debuts New Features, Includes a Full Soundtrack and Player Map Boston, Mass.
Scambook, the Internet’s leading consumer advisory platform, receives a lot of complaints due to consumers’ lack of protective efforts pending antivirus and anti-malware software.
A virus that originally surfaced over five years ago to swipe credit card numbers and banking information has reportedly been modified in order to pursue a more lucrative target – social media likes and followers.
Each quarter, the SecureIT Research team identifies malware vulnerabilities, analyzes risks, and enables instant remediation in order to protect enterprises and the public.
- A handkerchief.
- Specifically— The legendary sweat-cloth; the handkerchief of St. Veronica, according to tradition miraculously impressed with the mask of Christ; also, the napkin about Christ's head (Johu xx. 7).
- In general, any miraculous portrait of Christ.
More Images (2 images) »


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The NFL has had a problem lately. OK, maybe a few problems.. .One of the biggest ON the field issues has been player...
The Samsung Serif TV gets QLED technology and Ambient Mode for 2019
Samsung SmartThings expands with a new camera, Wi-Fi plug, and lightbulb
Apple announces voluntary battery recall on 15-inch MacBook Pro